The Expanding use of the English language for research and its Implications for Higher Education Institutions and Researchers

A Case study of Three African Flagship Universities

Authors

  • Addisalem Tebikew Yallew University of the Western Cape

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v11iWinter.1556

Abstract

The knowledge era or the knowledge society has made universities one of the central institutions for the production of new knowledge and scholarship. In line with this development, many African universities, that were often regarded as teaching-learning laden, are reorienting their mission and vision embracing research intensiveness as one of their aspirations with the goal of becoming globally or regionally competitive and locally relevant. This  qualitiative research focusing on the use of the English language for research in selected African flagship universities in Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Africa is conducted against a backdrop where questions related to research productivity are becoming more central not only to higher education institutions but to higher educational research pertaining to the continent. Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of capital, field, and habitus in general and specifically that of linguistic capital as an aspect of cultural capital are used to inform the conceptualization and the analysis of the research. To explore issues pertaining to the interlinked concepts of language and (de)colonization in research, postcolonial perspectives on language and education are used to guide the study. The study is expected to contribute to our understanding of (English) language and research in African higher education. 

References

References
Absalom, M. 2014. "Languages in Higher Education." Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 3 (2): 123-124.
Alexander, Neville. 2003. The African Renaissance and the use of African languages in tertiary education. Cape Town: PRAESA.
Alexander, Neville. 2000. “English unassailable but unattainable.” PRAESA Occasional papers, 3.
Altbach, Philip G. 2013. “Advancing the national and global knowledge economy: the role of research universities in developing countries.” Studies in higher education 38(3): 316-330. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.773222.
Altbach, Philip G. 2009. “Peripheries and centers: Research universities in developing countries.” Asia Pacific Education Review 10(1): 15-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9000-9.
Andoh, Harris. 2017. "The “Lost Mission” of African Universities." International Higher Education 91: 20-22. http://dx.doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2017.91.10035.
Antoine, Derek. 2017. “Pushing the Academy: The Need for Decolonizing Research.” Canadian Journal of Communication 42(1): 113-119. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2017v42n1a3091.
Atuahene, Francis. 2011. “Re-thinking the missing mission of higher education: An anatomy of the research challenge of African universities.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 46(4): 321-341. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909611400017.
Bamgbose, Ayo. 2004. Language of instruction policy and practice in Africa. Dakar: UNESCO. Retrived from http://www.unesco.org/education/languages_2004/languageinstruction_africa.pdf.
Bamgboṣe, Ayo. 2000. Language and exclusion: The consequences of language policies in Africa. Hamburg: LIT Verlag Münster.
Bogale, Berhanu. 2009."Language determination in Ethiopia: What medium of instruction." In S. Ege, H. Aspen, B. Teferra & S. Bekele (Eds.), In Proceedings of the 16th International conference of Ethiopian studies, vol. 1, pp. 1089-1102. http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%204/Berhanu%20Bogale%20-%20Language%20Determination%20in%20Ethiopia.pdf
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and Symbolic Power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1979. “Symbolic power.” Critique of anthropology 4(13-14): 77-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X7900401307.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977. “The economics of linguistic exchanges.” Social Science Information 16(6): 645-668. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901847701600601.
Bourdieu, Pierre, and Randal Johnson. 1993. The field of cultural production: essays on art and literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre, and Loïc J. D. Wacquant. 1992. An invitation to reflexive sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Brann, Conrad MB. 1994. “A Prognosis for Language Management in the third Republic.” In Language Contact and Language Conflict, edited by M. Pütz, 165-180. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
Brock-Utne, Brigit. 2015. “Language-in-Education Policies and Practices in Africa with a Special Focus on Tanzania and South Africa.” In Second International Handbook on Globalisation, Education and Policy Research, edited by J. Zajda, 615-631. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9493-0_36.
Brock-Utne, Brigit. 2007. “Learning through a familiar language versus learning through a foreign Language-A look into some secondary school classrooms in Tanzania.” International Journal of Educational Development 27(5): 487-498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2006.10.004.
Brock-Utne, Brigit. 2002. Whose education for all?: The recolonization of the African mind. New York: Falmer Press.
Brock-Utne, Brigit. 2001. “Education for All-in whose language?.” Oxford Review of Education 27(1): 115-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980125577.
Brock-Utne, Birgit, and Halla B. Holmarsdottir. 2004. “Language policies and practices in Tanzania and South Africa: problems and challenges.” International Journal of Educational Development, 24(1), 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2003.10.002.
Brumfit, Christopher. 2004. “Language and higher education: Two current challenges.” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 3(2): 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022204042685.
Chang-Wells, G. L. & Wells, G. 1997. “Modes of discourse for living, learning and teaching.” In International action research: A casebook for educational reform, edited by S. Hollingswort 147-156. London: Falmer Press.
Cloete, Nico, Ian Bunting, and Peter Maassen. 2015. “Research Universities in Africa: An empirical overview of eight flagship universities.” In Knowledge production and contradictory functions in African higher education, edited by Nico Cloete, Peter Maassen, and Tracy Bailey, 18-31. Cape Town: African Minds.
Coleman, James A. 2006. “English-medium teaching in European higher education.” Language teaching 39(1): 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026144480600320X.
Creswell, John W. 2014. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage publications.
Creswell, John W. 2012. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Boston: Pearson Education.
Crystal, David. 2012. English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Douglass, John Aubrey. 2016. “Preface.” In The new Flagship University: Changing the paradigm from global ranking to national relevancy, edited by John Aubrey Douglas, xiii-xx. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Evoh, Chijioke J., Christopher Byalusago Mugimu, and Hopestone K. Chavula. 2014. “Knowledge Production in the Knowledge Economy: Higher Education Institutions and the Application of Innovations in ICT for Capacity Development in Africa.” In The Development of Higher Education in Africa: Prospects and Challenges, edited by A. W. Wiseman and C. C. Wolhuter, 285-323. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Hasselriis, K. April 22, 2010. French is out of fashion in Rwanda. Retrived from http://www.macleans.ca/news/world/french-is-out-of-fashion-in-rwanda/.
Juma, Calestous. 2016. “Education, research and innovation in Africa: Forging strategic linkages for economic transformation.” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Harvard Kennedy School.
Kuteeva, Maria, and John Airey. 2014. “Disciplinary differences in the use of English in higher education: Reflections on recent language policy developments.” Higher Education 67: 533-549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-013-9660-6.
Lin, Angel MY, and Peter Martin. 2005. From a Critical Deconstruction Paradigm to a Critical Construction Paradigm: An Introduction to Decolonisation, Globalisation and Language in Education Policy and Practice. In Decolonisation, Globalisation: Language-in-Education Policy and Practice, edited by A.M. Lin and P.W.Martin, 1-19. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Mazrui, Ali A. 2003. “Towards Re-Africanizing African Universities: Who Killed Intellectualism in the Post-Colonial Era?.” Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations 2(3&4): 135-163. http://alternatives.yalova.edu.tr/article/view/5000159528.
Mazrui, Alamin M. 2002. “The English language in African education: Dependency and decolonization.” In Language policies in education: Critical issues, edited by J.W. Tollfson, 267-282. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Mazrui, Alamin. 1997. “The World Bank, the language question and the future of African education.” Race & Class 38(3): 35-48. https://doi.org/10.1177/030639689703800303.
Marginson, Simon. 2006. “Dynamics of national and global competition in higher education.” Higher Education 52: 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-7649-x.
Mavhunga, Clapperton Chakanetsa. 2017. “The Language of Science, Technology, and Innovation: A Chimurenga Way of Seeing from Dzimbahwe.” In What Do Science, Technology, and Innovation Mean from Africa?, edited by Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga, 45-62. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Marginson, Simon, and Gary Rhoades. 2002. "Beyond national states, markets, and systems of higher education: A glonacal agency heuristic." Higher education 43 (3): 281-309. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014699605875
Mbembe, Achille Joseph. 2016. “Decolonizing the university: New directions.” Arts and Humanities in Higher Education 15(1): 29-45. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022215618513.
McGreal, C. January 15, 2009. Why Rwanda said adieu to French. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2009/jan/16/rwanda-english-genocide
Mertens, Donna M. 2014. Research methods in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative and qualitative approaches. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Pennycook, Alastair. 1998. English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge.
Pennycook, Alastair. 2000. “English, politics, ideology: From colonial celebration to postcolonial performativity.” Ideology, politics, and language policies: Focus on English, edited by Thomas Ricento, 107-119. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
Phillipson, Robert. 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Plonski, Patrick, Asratie Teferra, and Rachel Brady. 2013. Why are more African countries adopting English as an official language?. In African Studies Association Annual Conference. Baltimore, Maryland.
Rubagumya, Casmir M. 1991. “Language promotion for educational purposes: The example of Tanzania.” International Review of Education 37(1): 67-85. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00598168.
Saarinen, Taina. 2017. “Policy is what happens while you’re busy doing something else: introduction to special issue on “language” indexing higher education policy.” Higher Education 73: 553-560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0002-3.
Salmi, Jamil. 2009. The challenge of establishing world-class universities. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Scribner, Michelle. 2016. Influence of Social and Cultural Capital including Language of English Learners on Student Engagement (Doctoral dissertation, University of Redlands). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 10172296)
Teferra, Damtew. September 22, 2017. In defense of flagship universities. University World News: Africa Edition. http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2017092110055713
Teferra, Damtew, and Philip G. Altbach. 2004. “African higher education: Challenges for the 21st century.” Higher education 47(1): 21-50. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000009822.49980.30.
WaThiong'o, N. 1994. Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature. Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing House (Pvt.) Ltd.
Webb, Vic. 2008. “Language and the politics of institutional identity: can the University of Pretoria become a bi-or multilingual university?” Southern African linguistics and applied language studies 26(3): 393-406. https://doi.org/10.2989/SALALS.2008.26.3.7.634.
Webb, Vic. 2006. "English in Higher Education in South Africa: inclusion or exclusion." In Multilingualism and Information Development Program (MIDP) symposium on Multilingualism and Exclusion, Bloemfontein, pp. 24-27.
Williams, Glyn. 2010. Knowledge economy, language and culture. Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.
Yin, Robert K. 2013. Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Downloads

Published

2020-03-15

Issue

Section

2024 Emerging Scholar Summary - 16(6) 2024

How to Cite

The Expanding use of the English language for research and its Implications for Higher Education Institutions and Researchers: A Case study of Three African Flagship Universities. (2020). Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 11(Winter), 209-212. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v11iWinter.1556